The mainstream American media is catching on—but doesn’t seem to grab a snag—on elusive and dramatic Italian novelist and cult phenomenon Elena Ferrante, who offered a rare interview to no lower brow than that of the New York Times this week. Check it out. And speaking of the buzz: take a gander at French Nobel laureate Patrick Mondiano’s Nobel speech—the gist is positive (literature is not, and will never be, in danger).
Lit-and-politicking. In Poland, artists are none-too-pleased with the looming presence of Russia. Our friends at Melville House Publishing will rush to publish the United States’ CIA Torture Report by December 30 (not really the kind of page-turner we look forward to reading, but important nonetheless). And more news in alternative publishing: you’ve probably tired of the ongoing and nebulous Amazon-Hachette battles, but Hachette Publishing has turned a new leaf: you will soon be able to purchase books directly through the social media platform (#cool).
Do you lose your place on the page—or do you use it? Reclaim the oft-mocked art of marginalia, says Tim Parks, and take a pen to the page whenever you read. You might be appreciated in Oxford, England, where there’s a near-obsession with pageside doodling.
We’ve all got the polyglot friend—or perhaps you’re that polyglot that learns languages with the deftness of memorizing top-40 songs. But do we, as humans, have an instinct for language—or is it a nurtured skill? In a similar thread: why is it important to save languages in danger of extinction (it isn’t just about sentimentality!)?